WHATELY — The Riddle of the Sphinx made a cameo appearance in the world of “Sleeping Beauty” last week.
What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening? Not a cat. Not a bird. A man.
Follow the logic: a man crawls as an infant, walks upright as he grows up and uses a cane (or a third leg) for assistance when he is elderly.
Knowing this allowed the shepherd boy in Tanglewood Marionettes’ adapted production of “Sleeping Beauty” to defeat the wicked witch, kiss Aurora to break the evil curse and live happily ever after, much to the delight of the dozens of children inside Whately Elementary School’s gymnasium.
Peter Schaefer, who runs the Ware puppet theater company with his wife, Anne, visited Whately for a pair of shows he performed solo for students and staff. He performed “Sleeping Beauty” in the morning for children in pre-kindergarten through third grade and “Perseus & Medusa” for students in fourth through sixth grades.
“They love it,” Schaefer said before the first show. “Puppet shows are always up their alley.”
He started the show by offering some information about puppetry and showing students how a mouth puppet works.
Children watched “Sleeping Beauty” with wonder as the king and queen welcomed baby Aurora into the world, only to have the wicked witch place a curse on the girl to doom her to die on her 16th birthday after she pricked her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. A fairy godmother cannot eliminate the curse, but evenly distributes it throughout the kingdom so that instead of Aurora dying, everyone sleeps for 100 years.
The beautiful Aurora was eventually awoken by her true love’s kiss, resulting in squirms and cringes from some of the youngest in the audience.
After the show, Schaefer allowed students to walk behind his set to see how he keeps puppets on hangers when he is not using them. He performed the show over pre-recorded audio.
Paula King, library media specialist at the elementary school, said sponsorship by the Whately Cultural Council made Monday’s show possible. She said she saw Tanglewood Marionettes perform in Wendell and fell in love with the company. She said this is the fourth time the company has visited Whately Elementary School.
“They make all of their puppets and … they create an audio version of their performance so that while he’s manipulating the puppets, he’s not having to speak as well,” King said. “I think they’re outstanding. … I wouldn’t spend the time to write the grant if I didn’t think it was worth doing.”
She also said these types of puppetry shows tie in well with the school’s curriculum, because sixth-graders read fairy tales in class.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.